LEBED, MASKHADOV SIGN NEW CHECHEN CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT. In eight hours of
talks in the Chechen village of Novye Atagi on 22 August, Russian Security
Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed and Chechen Chief of Staff Aslan Maskhadov
drafted and then signed a nine-point agreement on the technical aspects of
demilitarization, including the withdrawal of both sides' forces from Grozny
and the creation of a joint military headquarters to maintain order and
preclude looting, Russian and Western agencies reported. The agreement also
includes a ceasefire scheduled to take effect at noon on 23 August. Lebed
expressed confidence that the agreement would be implemented, noting that "all
the commanders whom I brought together accepted this agreement as binding,"
according to ITAR-TASS. Lebed flew back to Moscow overnight, but will return to
Chechnya in two days to sign a political agreement on future bilateral
relations between Moscow and Grozny. -- Liz Fuller

CHECHEN CASUALTY, REFUGEE TOLL. Over 400 Russian troops have been killed
and 1,264 wounded since the beginning of the Chechen offensive in Grozny on 6
August, according to Russian Public Television (ORT). Some 150,000 residents
have fled Grozny; the International Red Cross estimated on 22 August that
50,000 people remain in the city, AFP reported. The head of the OSCE mission to
Chechnya, Tim Guldimann, told a press conference in Vienna on 22 August that
water, food and medical supplies are in short supply in Grozny, according to
Reuters. ITAR-TASS quoted Guldimann, whose role in mediating an earlier peace
agreement between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and acting Chechen President
Zelimkhan Yandarbiev was sharply criticized by the pro-Moscow Chechen
leadership, as saying that the OSCE would continue to seek a political solution
to the Chechen conflict. -- Liz Fuller

YELTSIN DISSATISFIED WITH LEBED. President Boris Yeltsin criticized
Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed on 22 August, ORT reported. Yeltsin
said that Lebed promised during the presidential election campaign that if he
held power, he would resolve the Chechen conflict, but "now that he has power,
unfortunately, there are no apparent results." The president added that he
would not "despair" and would continue seeking a negotiated solution to the
war. He labeled the Chechen conflict a "bleeding wound" since it was claiming
the lives of so many Russian Federation citizens, Radio Mayak reported. --
Robert Orttung

PULIKOVSKII ULTIMATUM NOT CLEARED IN THE DEFENSE MINISTRY. Defense
Minister Igor Rodionov announced that Lt.-Gen. Konstantin Pulikovskii acted
alone when he issued his 19 August ultimatum warning civilians to evacuate
Grozny within 48 hours, Krasnaya zvezda reported on 23 August. The
Defense Ministry did not prepare the ultimatum, nor did its leadership approve
it, Rodionov said. Pulikovskii exceeded his authority in issuing the ultimatum
and committed a serious mistake in doing so, the defense minister said. He
stressed that the military would not be allowed to act independently of
government policy. Pulikovskii's actions demonstrate a breakdown in the Russian
chain of command and continue a trend of Russian commanders in ethnic hotspots,
like Moldova and Abkhazia, acting independently. -- Robert Orttung

IZVESTIYA COMPARES CHECHNYA TO VIETNAM. The main difference
between the war in Vietnam in the 1960s and the ongoing war in Chechnya is that
the U.S. learned lessons from Vietnam, while Russia has not yet learned
anything from the Chechen conflict, according to a commentary in the 23 August
Izvestiya. The author, who reported from New York and Washington during
the Vietnam era, noted that Aleksandr Lebed's recent activities have been
viewed favorably in the West but with suspicion in Moscow, and concluded that
senior Russian officials sent Lebed to Chechnya hoping not to solve the crisis,
but to discredit Lebed. The author also found many similarities between
Chechnya and Vietnam. For instance, he said Lt.-Gen. Konstantin Pulikovskii's
ultimatum to Grozny residents recalled a famous remark once attributed to an
American colonel: "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." -- Laura
Belin

YELTSIN GIVES TV INTERVIEW. In his first TV interview since beginning
his second term, Yeltsin looked hale and confident as he sought to demonstrate
that he had a firm grasp on power, NTV reported on 22 August. Yeltsin denied
rumors that he would be going to Switzerland for medical treatment, noting that
there were many problems left for him to address in Russia. Yeltsin has not yet
decided when and where he will vacation, Izvestiya reported on 23
August. He spent the last two days investigating resort sites, according to his
press service. -- Robert Orttung

AMAN TULEEV PROFILE. Aman Tuleev, the chairman of the Kemerovo Oblast
legislative assembly and an opposition leader, has joined the new government to
head the CIS Affairs Ministry. He had expected a higher position, such as first
deputy prime minister. Half-Kazak and half-Tatar, Tuleev was born in
Turkmenistan in 1944. A railroad worker and, later, engineer, he became a
Communist Party functionary in 1985. He has been chairman of the Kemerovo
Oblast legislature since 1990. A a long-time opponent of Boris Yeltsin, Tuleev
ran in both Russian presidential races: in 1991, he finished fourth with about
7% of the vote; in 1996, he withdrew his bid several days before the first
round and threw his support behind Gennadii Zyuganov. He is one of the five
co-chairman of the Popular Patriotic Union of Russia, an opposition movement
created earlier this month. Some observers suggest that Tuleev's appointment
was aimed to push him aside from the Kemerovo Oblast gubernatorial race, where
he had a good chance of defeating the incumbent. -- Anna Paretskaya

PRESIDENTIAL AIDE THREATENS BALTICS. Presidential Aide Dmitrii Ryurikov
said that "policy with regard to ethnic Russians living in CIS states will
become much more active than it was previously," in an interview with
Moskovskii komsomolets of 21 August. He accused the Estonian authorities
of practicing "apartheid" and of not fulfilling agreements on the pensions and
other social rights of Russian residents. He threatened that "specific steps
will soon be taken which will make the Estonian authorities consider the
justice of their actions" and claimed that "Lithuania, Latvia, and especially
Estonia have no chance of joining NATO until the Russian problem is resolved."
-- Peter Rutland

RUSSIA STILL BACKS COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN. The 61-nation talks in Geneva
seeking a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty ended without agreement on 22
August, after nearly three years of negotiations. The chief Russian delegate to
the Conference on Disarmament, Grigorii Berdennikov, confirmed Russia's support
for the comprehensive test ban, ITAR-TASS reported on 22 August. Speaking at
the conference, he criticized India's refusal to sign the treaty, which is the
sole remaining barrier to its adoption. India is insisting that the declared
nuclear powers provide a timetable for complete disarmament, and Russia seems
to have been unable to dislodge its traditional ally from this position. --
Peter Rutland

STRIKES OVER WAGE ARREARS CONTINUE. Employees of a local hospital
picketed the building of the Magadan Oblast administration demanding payment of
back wages, Russian TV (RTR) reported on 22 August. The doctors were last paid
in May. The hospital administration canceled all operations except for
emergency cases. No reaction from the oblast administration was reported.
Meanwhile, transport workers went on a one-day warning strike in Kyzyl, the
capital of Tyva. The strike was also prompted by overdue wages, which the
workers have not received since January, ITAR-TASS reported on 23 August. --
Anna Paretskaya

PRIMORSKII KRAI TO BOYCOTT HIGHER ENERGY TARIFFS. The Primorskii Krai's
regional duma will refuse to implement the State Energy Commission's decree on
raising energy prices in the region, ITAR-TASS reported on 23 August. To close
the gap between costs and prices and restore the profitability of electricity
producers, the decree triples electricity prices in the Far Eastern region,
bringing them to 325 rubles ($0.06) per kilowatt-hour for residents, 573 rubles
for industrial companies, and 1,410 rubles for commercial organizations. The
duma complained that local customers will not be able to pay the new tariffs,
and called upon Moscow to send 450 billion rubles to buy fuel supplies for next
winter. They also suggested that the region's 1.8 trillion ruble tax obligation
to the federal budget be canceled, given that Moscow owes the region roughly
that amount in payments and subsidies. -- Natalia Gurushina

DRAFT 1997 BUDGET APPROVED. The newly appointed government hurriedly
approved the draft federal budget for 1997 at its meeting on 22 August,
ITAR-TASS and Segodnya reported. The government is legally required to
submit the draft to parliament by 1 September. The draft assumes that GDP will
not decline next year but will stay at around 1,620 trillion rubles ($300
billion), in contrast to the 3% fall expected this year. It expects annual
inflation of 9.5% and a budget deficit of 3.3% of GDP (89 trillion rubles),
down from the 3.9% target for 1996. Spending will be 512 trillion rubles and
revenues 423 trillion. This is largely a hypothetical exercise. Even leaving
aside the optimistic assumptions factored into the 1997 budget, experience this
year indicates that the budget only imperfectly describes the actual pattern of
government spending. On 21 August President Yeltsin finally signed into law a
bill specifying the spending and revenue categories in the budget. The Duma has
been trying to pass such a law since December 1994: Yeltsin vetoed two previous
versions. -- Peter Rutland

PROFILE OF NEW FUEL AND ENERGY MINISTER. Petr Rodionov, a 45-year-old
member of the board of the gas industry giant Gazprom, has been appointed
Russia's new Fuel and Energy Minister. Rodionov was also the director of
Gazprom's subsidiary in St. Petersburg, where he earned a "tough man"
reputation for cutting gas supplies to defaulting customers, Reuters reported
on 22 August. In an interview with Russian Public Television (ORT), Rodionov
said he will push for a revision of the energy sector's pricing policy.
However, the capacity of his ministry to influence such decisions has been much
reduced by the privatization program, which has created a number of autonomous
corporations, and by the fact that responsibility has to be shared with other
governmental agencies, such as the Federal Energy Commission, which sets
transport tariffs. -- Natalia Gurushina

GEORGIANS PROTEST NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK. Georgian scholars have
criticized what they regard as "insulting and unethical" comments in a new
Georgian-language textbook published in England, ITAR-TASS reported on 22
August. A meeting of scholars at the Samshoblo publishing house in Tbilisi
accused author George Hewitt of anti-Georgian bias, which they connected to the
alleged fact of his marriage to an Abkhazian. Some participants even called for
criminal proceedings against Hewitt. ITAR-TASS reported that an Indiana
University professor, Dodona Kiziria, agreed with some of the criticism of the
book. -- Peter Rutland

FOREIGN DIPLOMATIC ACTIVITY AROUND TAJIKISTAN. With a new outbreak of
fighting reportedly in progress in the Tavil-Dara region, representatives of
other interested countries have stepped up their efforts to achieve some
resolution to the problems in Tajikistan. Officials of the Russian and Afghan
border commands met on 22 August in the Tajik village of Tem, close to Khorog,
to discuss means of stabilizing the area along the Tajik-Afghan border,
ITAR-TASS reported. Representatives of the two countries agreed on sharing
information on border violations and on the creation of a border security zone
stretching 2-5 kilometers south into Afghanistan. UN envoy to Tajikistan Gerd
Merrem was in Iran, where several United Tajik Opposition leaders live, on 22
August to enlist the aid of Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati,
according to RFE/RL. Iran has played a constructive role in bringing the Tajik
government and opposition to the peace table since the conflict began in 1992.
-- Bruce Pannier

DONETSK COURT DISBANDS MINERS' STRIKE COMMITTEE. The Donetsk Court of
Arbitration ruled on 20 August to disband the Donetsk Workers' Committee for
organizing illegal miners' strikes in July, blocking roads and railroad tracks,
and causing huge losses for local mines and railroads, Ukrainian agencies
reported on 20 and 21 August. The court used as evidence videotaped interviews
by local TV reporters with the imprisoned leaders of the committee, arrested
recently for organizing the strikes. The leftist Civic Congress of Ukraine has
issued a protest against the court's ruling, calling it a sign of the "advance
of totalitarianism . . . based on nationalist ideology" in Ukraine. --
Chrystyna Lapychak

BELARUSIAN REFERENDUM CONSIDERED LEGAL. Justice Minister Valyantsin
Sukala said President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's proposed referendum is legal
under the constitution, Belapan reported on 21 August. Under Article 74 of the
constitution, the president or the people can initiate a referendum and
parliament should set a date within 30 days of the proposal. Any referendum
questions are under the authority of the initiator. Parliamentary Speaker
Syamyon Sharetsky agreed that parliament must set the referendum date within a
month of receiving the proposal, but he said the full texts of the referendum
questions have not yet been presented to the parliament. During a round-table
discussion that day, it was suggested that parliament may add its own questions
to the referendum or hold an alternative referendum. Under the constitution,
parliament has the right to initiate a referendum if 70 deputies back the move.
-- Ustina Markus

TRIAL UPDATE IN BELARUS. The trial of nationalist poet Slavomyr
Adamovich began in Vitsebsk on 22 August, ITAR-TASS reported. Adamovich is
being tried for instigating terrorism with his poem "Kill the President," which
was published in the Vitsebsk paper Vybar. Adamovich is also accused of
illegal weapons possession and trying to cross the border illegally. A day
earlier, Belarusian TV reported on the beginning of the trial of seven
Ukrainians accused of participating in activities leading to public disorder.
The Ukrainians were apprehended during the 26 April Chornobyl demonstrations
and face up to three years in prison. -- Ustina Markus

ESTONIA, LATVIA RATIFY SEA-BORDER AGREEMENT. The Estonian and Latvian
parliaments on 22 August unanimously ratified the agreement on sea borders
signed by Prime Ministers Tiit Vahi and Andres Skele on 12 July, BNS reported.
The agreement, which went into effect upon the ratifications, foresees
conclusion of a bilateral agreement on fishing in the Gulf of Riga by 1
September. -- Saulius Girnius

LATVIA POSTPONES RATIFICATION OF OIL-DEPOSIT AGREEMENT. The Saeima on 22
August did not ratify agreements with Amoco and the Swedish company
Oljeprospektering AB for oil exploration off Latvia's coast, Radio Lithuania
reported. This was not due to appeals by the Lithuanian parliament to postpone
the matter but because the lawmakers ran out of time to discuss the 25th item
on their agenda. The ratification is to be discussed at the next session on 29
August. Lithuania claims part of the territory where explorations are
envisioned by the 31 October 1995 agreement and has asked that they not be
ratified before the sea border is settled. -- Saulius Girnius

POLISH ECONOMY CONTINUES TO ROLL. Data for the first seven months of
1996 released on 22 August by the Central Statistical Office show that Poland's
economy continues to deliver strong results. According to reports in Polish
dailies on 23 August, industrial production at the end of July was 10% above
its July 1995 level, while prices actually declined by 0.1% in July. Industrial
growth was powered by Poland's continuing investment boom--real investment
spending at the end of June was 24% above mid-1995 levels--and by consumption,
which reflected a 9.4% increase in real wages in July (relative to July 1995
levels). The price stability attained in July also means that the official
consumer-price inflation forecast of 17% for the year remains within the realm
of the possible. On the other hand, the rapid growth in real wages has pulled
down state enterprises' profits. Also, Poland's trade deficit at the end of
June had risen to $3.1 billion, compared with the $500 million deficit recorded
in mid-1995. -- Ben Slay

CZECH CHEMICAL GIANT ACQUIRES ARMS-EXPORT COMPANY. Chemapol Group, a
Czech trading and chemicals conglomerate, announced on 22 August that it had
gained an 80% interest in Omnipol, the country's largest arms trader, Reuters
reported. Chemapol's general director, Vaclav Junek, said his group hoped to
double Omnipol's sales over the next two years. He also said that Chemapol
would use Omnipol's connections in an effort to acquire the Czech aircraft
builder Aero Vodochody. -- Doug Clarke

HUNGARY BUYS TANKS FROM BELARUS. The Hungarian Defense Ministry on 22
August revealed the terms of a previously announced deal to purchase 100 T-72
tanks from Belarus, Napi Gzdasag reported. Hungary has agreed to pay
$130,000 each for the tanks, which are to be shipped from Belarus later this
year. Belarus would have had to destroy the tanks to meet its commitments under
the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. In a related matter, the
Hungarian Defense and Finance ministries were reported to have agreed on a
governmental guarantee for a 30 billion forint tender to purchase new air
defense missiles and radars. The tender is expected to be issued in two weeks.
-- Doug Clarke

HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT POSTPONES ENERGY-PRICE INCREASE. The government on
22 August announced that it will not raise energy prices until 1 January 1997,
despite its earlier pledge to foreign investors to do so, Hungarian dailies
reported. The decision comes in the wake of months-long debate within the
cabinet and between government members and foreign investors over whether a
price increase is justified. Socialist members of the government cited "social"
reasons for putting off the rise, and Industry and Trade Minister Imre Dunai's
resignation last week is thought to be owed to his firm stand in favor of
raising the prices. The price hike would have been the second major increase
this year. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

HUNGARY TO SELL HOTEL CHAIN. The State Privatization and Holding Co.
(APV) on 22 August announced that it has approved Danubius Hotels' 8.1 billion
forint ($52 million) bid for the 14-member HungarHotels chain, Hungarian media
reported. Danubius's main rival was a domestic investment consortium that
included HungarHotels' management. The consortium bid 6.6 billion forints.
Danubius, the shares of which are held by both foreign and domestic investors,
pledged to spend $13 million on development over the next three years and to
keep the present work force for at least a year. The privatization of
HungarHotels has been marked by controversy. Prime Minister Gyula Horn called
off an agreement between APV's predecessor and the American General Hospitality
(AGH) chain in 1994, saying it would have caused a serious loss to the country.
AGH had offered 5.6 billion forints ($36.8 million at the current exchange
rate) for a 51 percent stake in the entire chain, which then also included the
Forum, one of Budapest's most luxurious hotels. In March, APV separated the
Forum from the chain; it is now being offered for sale individually. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

PRE-ELECTION VIOLENCE GETTING WORSE IN BOSNIA. The UN spokesman in
Sarajevo, Alexander Ivanko, said on 22 August that opposition parties' leaders
and supporters are being increasingly intimidated by the ruling parties in the
northern towns of Cazin and Teslic, Onasa reported. Along with eight explosions
in the Bihac region during the past week, three explosions were reported in
Cazin on 22 August, all of them believed to have been directed at supporters of
opposition parties. The UN received a letter from a local opposition party
accusing the ruling Muslim Party of Democratic Action of acts of intimidation
in Cazin. Meanwhile, in the Republika Srpska, a police unit controlled by the
ruling Serbian Democratic Party has taken into custody a factory director in
Teslic who headed the local opposition party. Ivanko said special Serbian
forces continue to operate around the town, with city officials refusing to
explain their presence. -- Daria Sito Sucic

NEW TRIBUNAL OFFICES IN SARAJEVO, BELGRADE. Graham Blewitt, prosecutor
for the war-crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, on 22 August opened an
office in Sarajevo and announced that a Belgrade office would open the next
day, Onasa reported. Blewitt said the tribunal's Sarajevo office will assist
the investigation team arriving in Bosnia in early September to resume
mass-grave explorations. He said the Belgrade office represents a major step
forward, since the prosecutor's office has been trying to establish a base in
the city since 1994. The Belgrade office will allow the war-crimes tribunal to
investigate alleged atrocities against Serbs. -- Daria Sito Sucic

CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BELGRADE. Mate Granic on 23 August arrived
in Belgrade, where he and rump Yugoslav counterpart Milan Milutinovic are to
sign an agreement on the normalization of relations, Nasa Borba reported
on 23 August. Earlier in the week, Croatian Foreign Ministry sources had hinted
that a number of outstanding issues, including jurisdiction over the strategic
Prevlaka peninsula and disagreements over the division of assets, could delay
the signing (See OMRI Daily Digest, 20 August). But on 22 August, Zagreb
announced that Granic would participate in the "landmark" ceremony in Belgrade.
The BBC on 23 August, however, reported that a signing would not necessarily
mean that all outstanding issues had been resolved; contentious issues could be
deferred. -- Stan Markotich

SERBIAN OPPOSITION CRITICIZES ELECTION COVERAGE. Vojin Dimitrijevic, a
member of the opposition Serbian Civic League, told a 21 August press
conference that he thought it would be impossible for opposition parties to
gain equal access to media coverage during the federal campaign. He also dubbed
a recent agreement on media coverage little more than "a state order submitted
for signature," reported the BBC monitoring service, citing Tanjug. As of 21
August, a total of 35 parties had signed an agreement on media coverage. --
Stan Markotich

MONTENEGRIN OPPOSITION PARTIES FORGE ELECTORAL ALLIANCE. Novak
Killibarda, leader of the People's Party of Montenegro (NSCG), and Slavko
Perovic, head of the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro (LSCG), released a
statement on 22 August outlining a cooperation accord for the 3 November
elections, Nasa Borba reported on 23 August. According to the agreement,
the parties have resolved to campaign together, recognizing that "it is
imperative for us to fold up our party banners and set aside those factors that
divide us so as to raise the flag of democracy over Montenegro." The NSCG,
which holds 14 seats in the 85-seat republican legislature, has advocated
maintaining federal ties with Serbia, while the LSCG, which has 13 seats, has
pushed for Montenegro's outright independence. -- Stan Markotich

TOP SERBIAN OFFICIAL CALLS FOR DIRECT TALKS ON KOSOVO. The chairman of
the Serbian parliamentary committee on security, Radmilo Bogdanovic, on 22
August said it is "time for serious talks on Kosovo" between the Serbian
government and the Kosovo Albanians, Western media reported, citing state-run
Borba. But at the same time, he set conditions that the Kosovars are
likely to reject. Bogdanovic--a close aide to Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic and a former Serbian interior minister--said the Kosovars should take
the first step and "ask for talks," and he rejected Kosovar shadow state
President Ibrahim Rugova's call for international mediation. Bogdanovic said
that "the state does not need a witness to talk to its own citizens." -- Stefan
Krause

BOSNIAN OPPOSITION CANDIDATES DETAINED IN SLOVENIA. Bosnian politicians
Ivo Komsic of the Croatian Peasant Party and Nijaz Skenderagic of the Social
Democratic Party on 21 August were detained by police in Slovenia as they were
about to address a campaign meeting, Oslobodjenje reported. The police
told them that according to Slovenian law they cannot hold a meeting that has
not been properly announced. Komsic said Croatia and Slovenia are the only two
European countries that do not allow such political meetings,
Oslobodjenje reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic

ROMANIAN ELECTORAL UPDATE. A "national committee" supporting incumbent
President Ion Iliescu's candidacy was formed on 22 August, Romanian television
announced on the same day. The committee is chaired by Foreign Minister Teodor
Melescanu. Iosif Borda, Romania's ambassador to Switzerland, has been appointed
director of the president's electoral campaign. The Romanian ambassador to
Moldova, Marian Enache, is also a member of the committee. The announcement was
met with criticism in the opposition press. The daily Romania libera
printed excerpts from the Statutes of the Diplomatic Corps, which forbid
Romanian diplomats to be members of political parties or become involved in
party activities. In other news, several Roma parties that had set up an
umbrella organization called Roma Unification appointed sociologist Nicolae
Gheorghe as their presidential candidate, Radio Bucharest announced. -- Michael
Shafir

RULING PARTY DECIDES TO FREEZE CONSUMER PRICES. In a move obviously
triggered by electoral considerations, the Permanent Delegation of the major
coalition partner, the Party of Social Democracy in Romania, on 22 August
decided to freeze consumer prices of 54 products, Radio Bucharest reported. The
freeze is to be in force till 1 January 1997. It will affect prices for
gasoline and fuel for home heating, coal, public transportation, bread, milk,
comestible oil, butter, pork and poultry, medicine and medical services,
cigarettes, telephone charges, rents, and others. The independent daily
Libertatea on 23 August called the move "a bomb whose exploding effects
after the elections will be terrible." -- Michael Shafir

BENDERY AUTHORITIES PREPARE FOR EMERGENCY STATE. BASA-press reported on
22 August that the local authorities in Bendery (Tighina), a town in the
Dniester region where the Chisinau authorities have managed to keep a police
force that acts parallel to the Dniester forces, have started preparations for
a state of emergency. The move reflects rumors of a concentration of Moldovan
army units preparing an attack on the town. Sources close to the city
administration told the agency that envelopes containing instructions on
mobilization, to be opened only in case of an attack, have been distributed to
workplaces. The authorities have also ordered a Dniester military unit to
confine men to barracks and to start fortifications. Gen. Victor Catana, the
Moldovan Deputy Interior Minister and co-chairman of the Joint Control
Commission (JCC), said in a press release that the allegations on the impending
attack are a "premeditated misinforming of public opinion." The JCC and the
OSCE mission in Moldova on 21 August released a joint statement calling on
public organizations, decision makers, and the population at large to "refrain
from actions that may increase tension." -- Michael Shafir

SNEGUR ON PRESIDENTIAL REPUBLIC. Moldovan President Mircea Snegur,
addressing a meeting of the National Press Club on 22 August, said that Moldova
should become a presidential republic and that he intends to pursue this change
if re-elected in November, Infotag reported on the same day. He said that if
his main rivals in the electoral contest, Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli and
parliament Chairman Petru Lucinschi, lose, it would mean that the government
and the parliamentary majority have lost the trust of the electorate. --
Michael Shafir

BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS REGISTER. The Bulgarian Socialist
Party's (BSP) candidates for president and vice president, Georgi Pirinski and
Ivan Marazov, on 22 August handed in registration documents to the Central
Electoral Commission (TsIK), Trud reported. Pirinski, the current
foreign minister, turned in a Justice Ministry certificate saying that he never
lost his Bulgarian citizenship and is not a naturalized citizen. He did so to
prove that he fulfills the constitutional requirement that the president be a
"Bulgarian citizen by birth." TsIK Deputy Chairwoman Zlatka Ruseva said the
opposition representatives on the commission will examine Pirinski's documents
"very carefully." Standart reported that the BSP has two reserve teams,
one of which will be registered in case the TsIK rejects Pirinski and Marazov,
the current culture minister. Novinar reported that, in that case,
Pirinski may replace Zhan Videnov as prime minister in the fall. On 23 August,
registration documents for the united opposition's candidates, Petar Stoyanov
and Todor Kavaldzhiev, were filed. -- Stefan Krause

IMF MISSION HEAD CRITICAL OF BULGARIA. Anne McGuirk, head of an IMF
mission presently visiting Bulgaria, on 22 August said it was not clear whether
the country will qualify for the second installment of a $580 million IMF loan,
international media reported. McGuirk said the government has been slow in
implementing economic reforms and singled out delays in closing down 64 major
loss-making state enterprises. Closing those companies and cutting off
subsidies to another 70 enterprises was part of a deal agreed on in May between
Bulgaria and the IMF. McGuirk also voiced concern about the decline of the
Bulgarian lev and called for tighter monetary policies. -- Stefan Krause

ALBANIAN OPPOSITION LEADER RENEWS RELEASE EFFORTS. The lawyer for
imprisoned Socialist Party Chairman Fatos Nano has contacted the European Court
of Human Rights in an effort to secure Nano's release, Reuters reported on 22
August. Nano's lawyer, Perparim Sanxhaku, said he has direct contacts with the
court and plans to launch an appeal there against Nano's sentence. Nano was
sentenced in 1994 to 12 years in prison for embezzlement during his term as
prime minister in 1991. President Sali Berisha has rejected domestic and
international appeals for Nano's release. The Albanian parliament last month
ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, from which the court draws
its authority. -- Stefan Krause

GREEK PRIME MINISTER CALLS EARLY ELECTIONS. Kostas Simitis on 22 August
announced that early parliamentary elections will be held on 22 September, 13
months before the parliament's regular four-year term expires, Greek state
radio reported. Simitis cited the need to revive the economy and to strengthen
the country's position vis-a-vis Turkey as the main reasons for the early
balloting. Under the Greek constitution, early elections can be held if the
premier believes that a "major national issue" requires the government to be
approved by popular vote. President Kostis Stephanopoulos signed the decree for
new elections on 23 August. -- Stefan Krause